Australia: Falun Dafa at the 2015 Gold Coast Multicultural Festival

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners contributed to the diversity of the 2015 Gold Coast Multicultural Festival on November 1, 2015 in Queensland, Australia. The event attracts 50,000 visitors each year, making it the most popular cultural event in the region.

The practitioners talked to festival visitors from all walks of life about Falun Dafa and the persecution that has been taking place in China since 1999.

Many people stopped to watch practitioners demonstrate the five gentle exercises of Falun Dafa. The practitioners also distributed informational materials and hand-made origami lotus flowers.

One man mentioned that he recognized Falun Dafa as an authentic high-level qigong practice. Regarding the 16-year persecution of the practice in China, he said, “What they (the Chinese Communist Party) are doing in China to Falun Dafa practitioners is bad—they are committing genocide against their own people.” 

A freelance photographer taking photos at the event said he had neither heard about Falun Dafa nor of the ongoing persecution in China. Practitioners gave him some details and told him that Falun Dafa practitioners in China are killed for their organs by the Chinese regime. “I am appalled by the forced organ harvesting, especially since my brother had liver cancer and had only weeks to live,” he said. He explained that his brother was lucky that a liver was obtained from a donor in the United States, and he survived. The photographer was “disgusted that people could order an organ in China without knowing where the organ came from or whether someone had willingly or unwillingly donated their organ.”

David, a visitor at the festival, said he had heard about Falun Dafa because the New Zealand Prime Minister was widely criticized in the media recently for bowing to Chinese Communist Party (CCP) pressure and not attending World Falun Dafa Day celebrations in Wellington. David wanted to know more about the practice and was surprised to learn about the underhanded tricks the CCP uses to try to silence Western politicians who would otherwise condemn the persecution and organ harvesting in China. He also signed the petition calling for an end to the forced organ harvesting.

A Turkish couple who have lived in the Gold Coast for 13 years said that the persecution in China reminded them of the persecution of the Armenian people in Turkey. They encouraged practitioners to continue raising awareness about the persecution, stating that it was “very important.” They also said that they noted a strong energy coming from those doing the exercises and wanted to know more about the practice.

A young woman named Sarah said she remembered seeing Falun Dafa at last year’s Multicultural Festival. She asked for details about the practice site locations and times. She also signed the petition against forced organ harvesting in China.

Peter, who used to work for a Chinese company overseas, said that he had asked his Chinese colleagues about Falun Dafa, but they had been brainwashed by the CCP propaganda and would not say anything positive about the practice. However, after speaking with practitioners and viewing the "Peaceful Journey of Falun Dafa" photo exhibition, he was interested in learning the exercises. He was very moved to learn that practitioners would teach him for free.

A woman who used to do yoga was interested in learning the Falun Dafa exercises. When a practitioners told her that Dafa can improve one's health, increase energy, and bring peace of mind, she asked where she could learn it.

Practitioners also demonstrated the Falun Dafa exercises on the festival stage. Many people watched the movements and listened to the explanations with great interest.